49ers’ coach picks Kaepernick to start

Because Jim Harbaugh would rather gargle thumbtacks than compare players, he didn’t explain his rationale Wednesday after he announced, to no one’s surprise, that quarterback Colin Kaepernick will make his third straight start Sunday when the 49ers visit the Rams.

By skirting that subject, Harbaugh didn’t detail why he thought Kaepernick gave San Francisco a better chance to win than Alex Smith does. By complimenting Kaepernick, he’d be diminishing Smith, so Harbaugh instead served up some comically wishy-washy reasoning.

“What tips the scale, is Colin, we believe, has the hot hand and we’ll go with Colin,” Harbaugh said. “And we’ll go with Alex. They’re both our guys.”

Harbaugh, of course, won’t unveil a groundbreaking two-quarterback formation in St. Louis, but why, exactly, has he settled on the still largely unproven Kaepernick, who has two starts and 79 attempts on his resume?

Harbaugh wasn’t talking much, but some numbers from Kaepernick’s brief starting tenure say a mouthful about how his rocket arm and uncommon escape-ability have given the 49ers’ offense a different dimension.

In his two starts, Kaepernick has been sacked just once and had five completions of at least 30 yards in 48 attempts. Smith, in contrast, was sacked 22 times in his eight full games this season. He has six completions of at least 30 yards in 217 attempts.

In the most elementary of terms, the 49ers have had fewer very bad plays – and more very good plays – with Kaepernick at the controls. As a bonus, Kaepernick has shared Smith’s allergy to turnovers, throwing only one interception. Kaepernick’s shots downfield have had an element of risk, but not recklessness.

“That’s just Kaep being young, so he takes more chances,” said tight end Delanie Walker, who had receptions of 45 and 25 yards in a 31-21 win in New Orleans on Sunday. “Alex is the more steady quarterback, controlling the offense, making sure we get another down. Kaep, he will take a chance and go for the big play.”

Before the season, Smith acknowledged improvisation wasn’t his strength. During the Mike Singletary era, he said he was often told to “go make a play,” vague instructions he eventually began to ignore.

“I’ve never been a backyard guy, like run around and go make a play,” Smith said. “That’s not who I am. That’s just not me. I play a different type of football.”

Smith’s words contrasted sharply with those of Kaepernick on Wednesday. The starter said the quarterback he wanted to emulate as a kid was someone known as the NFL’s premier backyard baller.

“I was actually a Packers fan growing up so I always watched Brett Favre,” Kaepernick said. “I loved the way that he played the game. He went out there and he had no fear of what the defense was going to do. He was going to go out there and take his shots.”

In taking a shot with Kaepernick, Harbaugh, for all his wishy-washy talk, is taking a bold step. Like one of his new starter’s downfield throws, the risk might be greater, but so is the potential payoff.